Pressure sensors that sense air pressure internal to a tire of a vehicle during operation are known. Current tire pressure sensor (TPS) technology is deficient in precision and accuracy, which makes them unreliable for use as a safety measure in automotive and aeronautical industry. Current TPS technology is heavily based on semiconductor devices such as surface acoustic wave devices (SAW), and the devices developed thereof are primarily mounted on the valve stem of a tire or on the rim of the wheel. Currently commercially available devices for sensing tire pressure are large and may often even affect critical factors such as tire balance, making balancing of the tires virtually impossible. Furthermore, such devices tend to become damaged during regular tire replacing, and are even prone to tampering, thereby necessitating the TPS to be replaced. This and other factors make current TPS cost prohibitive and complicated for many end users.
Moreover, most if not all TPS arranged to measure tire pressure during operation of a vehicle that are available today require an external power source for transmitting collected pressure data to a central processor. A power source connected to a sensor, in addition to the large size of sensors that are currently commercially available, make the implementation of tire pressure sensors inefficient from a cost and practicality of use standpoint. Furthermore, current TPS may be prone to vibration, temperature, and humidity, and typically provide low measurement precision and accuracy. Also, battery replacement for the sensors may not be feasible at all times during operation.
Accordingly, there is a need for a tire pressure sensor that is simple to implement, light weight, and has improved measurement precision and accuracy.